"Very fishy. Definitely dodgy."
After Ron's heroic rescue of Harry who was imprisoned in the Dursley house, Harry updates the Weasley brothers on everything that happened during the summer. They have a very different take on the Dobby episode. Unlike Harry, they think that Dobby was sent by someone who hates Harry aka Draco Malfoy.
At this point, it is important to note that the Weasley brothers and Harry are in a magical flying car. They are flying it back to the Burrow, where the Weasleys live. We meet Mrs. Weasley who is very angry about the boys flaunting the statute of secrecy in this way. She assigns them chores but doesn't forget to feed them.
Mr. Weasley is happy to finally meet Harry but he is happier when he hears that the flying car works because he was the one who enchanted it.
Harry has the time of his life in the Burrow. He likes how disorderly and loving the Weasleys are. When his second-year term is about to start, they all decide to travel to Dialog alley using floo powder. Harry, unfamiliar with this new complicated method of travel, ends up in Knockturn Alley, where he overhears a suspicious conversation between Mr. Malfoy and a dark magic shop owner Mr. Borgin.
He is saved by Hagrid who brings Harry to the anxious Weasleys. They shop for a while and then go to Flourish and Blotts to buy their very expensive books. Here Harry and the gang meet their future Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher - the very colorful Gilderoy Lockhart.
The summer holidays end. The Weasleys and Harry hurry to catch the Hogwarts Express. What happens next will probably not surprise you if you have read the books.
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Wow. I am tired of typing the summary. So many things happen in these chapters. And I did not even mention Ginny, Percy or the lady selling human fingernails. Just listen to the episode and enjoy our discussion of these very eventful chapters.
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HARRY POTTER STORIES
In this episode, this segment features Muralidhar Mutnuru, a listener of the podcast.
If you are interested in sharing your story with us, just record yourself telling the story of how you starting reading the books and send it to mimblewimblepodcast@gmail.com.
PREPARATION
You can prepare for this episode by reading
Chapter 3: The Burrow
Chapter 4: At Flourish and Blotts
Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow
of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, or any other favorite podcast app. Just search for Mimblewimble - The Harry Potter Podcast.
NOTES
The editor (Aishwarya) tells me that I was so tired when we recorded this video that my continuous yawning ruined the latter part of the episode. Oops. So if you find surprisingly few discussions about the events in Diagon Alley, you know why.